Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, on Monday said he's working with colleagues on legislation that could bar someone who committed insurrection from holding office.
Raskin made the announcement after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that former President Donald Trump should appear on the primary ballot in states that have challenged his presidential candidacy.
""I'm working with a number of my colleagues—including [Democratic Representatives] Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Eric Swalwell—to revive legislation...to set up a process by which we could determine that someone who committed insurrection is disqualified by section three of the 14th amendment," Raskin said during an appearance on CNN.
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Trump on Monday via email for comment.
The Context
Trump's eligibility for the White House has been challenged in numerous states by groups citing a clause found in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. This Civil War-era clause prohibits officials who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution from holding office if they've "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" or "given aid or comfort" to those who did.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a 9-0 decision to side with Trump and overturned a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that the former president should be removed from the state's ballot in the 2024 election for his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In August, the former president was indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in its investigation regarding the riot. The insurrection saw a mob of Trump supporters—allegedly incited by his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud—violently protest at the Capitol building in a failed effort to block Joe Biden's 2020 Electoral College victory. Trump has plead not guilty in the case, maintaining his innocence.
What We Know
Raskin introduced legislation with Wasserman Schultz in 2022 that would lay the groundwork for the U.S. Justice Department to sue in order to prevent candidates from holding office if they committed insurrection.
Reintroducing the measure would bring the 14th Amendment argument against Trump's eligibility to the House floor.
Views
After news broke that the Supreme Court reversed the Colorado decision, Trump weighed in with a four-word response.
"BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told Newsweek for a separate story that Monday's decision by the court was "no surprise in light of the skepticism the justices displayed during oral argument."
"They say only Congress can enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, not the states, which would result in a patchwork of different decisions," McQuade said. "While it is now the law of the land that only Congress can keep Trump off the ballot, voters still have the power to keep him out of office."
What's Next?
"The House of Representatives already impeached Donald Trump for participating in insurrection by inciting it," Raskin told CNN's Dana Bash on Monday when discussing the reintroduction of insurrection-related legislation. "So, the House has already pronounced upon that, and there was also a 57 to 43 vote in the Senate."
He added: "The question is whether Speaker Mike Johnson would allow us to bring this to the floor of the House."
Update 03/04/24, 3:12 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include more background information.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
